Twenty-three years ago on this day (Jan. 23rd), I gave birth to my baby girl, JaLisa.
She was a funny and adventurous little girl who loved easy and was easy to love. She’s always been smart and wise beyond her years. For a lot of years, I was a single mom but she has always been well loved by a wealth of family and friends. I thank God for my ‘village’!

She has grown into a beautiful, young woman with a smile that lights up a room. She is very loving, generous and still very funny & adventurous. She is and has always been my reason to smile. She is a self-sufficient, successful young woman who is living life on her terms despite the trials that presented themselves along the way.

She is still my ‘little girl’ but in a bigger body. She still gets super excited when she sees me after we’ve been apart; just like when she was little. She doesn’t get embarrassed when I call her by embarrassing nicknames in front of her friends and smother her face with kisses. She still thinks her mom is pretty cool; “so dope” in her words. It still makes my heart dance to hear her laugh.